How do you handle book fairs ?

Jesse has a book fair coming up and he wants to bring money to school with him but I know that at these book fairs they offer not just books but a lot of other "stuff" that I honestly don't want him buying.
He doesn't need any pencils or fancy erasers and if he did I could get them at Target a lot cheaper.
I don't really want to give him any money, but I know he wants to be able to participate with his classmates and I don't want him to be left out. Plus it's fun to have your own money to buy something for himself.

So how do you handle this ? Do I send a note to his teacher with his money ? I doubt she has the time to inspect each childs purchases.

 

At our school, the parents can go in before/after school with their children. Is this an option?

Can you explain that even though they have other items, the rule for him is that he has to buy a book becae it is a BOOK fair. Tell him that you are trusting him to buy a book, and if he follows the rule he will be able to buy a book again the next time. If he doesn't, then he will not be able to participate next time. Remind him that he is old enough to follow the rules. I think he will! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

At our school, you put the money/check in an envelope. If you have any requests, like no junk, they will make sure that that is honored. They also have a late night where families can go. I tend to volunteer at the book fair, and I try to work the days the boys go, that way I can steer them away from the junk. But other than a 50 cent eraser, they haven't bought any.

 

Our boys school sends home the Book Fair flyer before sale so you can preview books, items etc. They always have sale on open house night so we are there when they go. My problem even when I say "book only" they still have trouble getting a book they will actually read, and not just impulse buy. This last time they did good and picked books they actually wanted and did read.

 

I usually put the money in an evelope with instructions if I have them. Isabel is good about not buying that stuff if I tell her not to. I haven't tried it with the twinkies yet. Sometimes they have a form that you can fill out with the items you do want them to buy with a space for special instructions/notes.

 

I once sent $ 60 to my son's teacher for the book fair - at the time he was our only one is school and it was his first book fair. We ended up with $60 worth of erasers, posters and any little JUNK he could find it was freaking awful. I expected a library LOL my reaction to that was I only send maybe $5 ( if I am feeling generous!) with the child and if I cannot go to the book fair before or after school they do not get anything else. I have tried the only get a book approach and we end up with a video game cheat code book or a comic book with no words in it.

 

:lol: my girls must like books too much. I usually send $15 and the usually come home with 2-3 books. I would mind if the used their change for other stuff

 

If he doesn't have an allowance, I would send in a small amount of money you can bear to be used on whatever he likes but remind him he will get the most pleasure from a book. I would also try to go on family night, if possible.

 

I wish they did have a family night .. at my kids other school they did and it was fun to be able to go and pick out books together.
Heather .. I've seen that happen .. I saw a mom once scolding her dd because she was upset with the stuff she bought.
I can almost bet he will come home with a Star Wars themed book of some sort. I think I'll give him like $5 and see what he comes home with .. but will talk to him about NOT buying toys .. ect.

 

When my son brought home the flyer showing what there was to buy he would show me (or tell me) the books he wanted and I would only give him enough money to buy those books. If he chose something different, that was in the end up to him, but he only got X amount of dollars from me. I think it is a good learning experience, we aren't always going to be there to make wise money decisions, so it's interesting to see what they do with the money on their own. My son never bought junk with his money (well, once he bought the girls plastic pointers and sacrificed a book he wanted ). 99% of the time, he did come home with the books that he wanted and I usually gave him cash.

 

I would look over the 'book order' papers and see what there is.

Send the $ in an envelope with the book order and see if they get that book (s).

Often their are parent workers that are helping, they can make sure your DC gets the book on the list and/or selects a book.

'Most' kids at the book fair have a wish list of sorts or the book order with circled material to choose from. Then the kids can 'pick' but are limited on choices.


Good Luck! Book Fairs are so much fun!

 

I would review the books in the flyer sent home and then send in the money in an envelope with the title of the book written down. My kids end up buying junk too and I hate that. This year, they let Peyton (who is in K and not reading) a chapter book that is 2nd/3rd grade level. I was sad for her, because she couldn't 'read' the book. She still find her looking through it to identify her sight words though....

 

Can you give him a certain amount of money and say he has to buy at least a certain number of books? Then, if he spends the rest of the money on random stuff, don't sweat it, even if it's a ripoff.

Maybe I will change my tune when my girls are older, but so far my rule for book fairs has been that they can make a completely free choice as long as it's age-appropriate. That said, our daycare's book fairs don't sell anything but books -- plus, I am always there with them. But still, if they want to buy a Dora book or a Barbie book, I grit my teeth and let them. We have a lot of good books too.

I bought a lot of really crappy books in elementary school -- I guess my parents figured it didn't matter since they knew I loved to read, and that was the important thing.

 

Well he just brought home a notice saying that there WILL be a family night on Monday .. yay ! (why did they wait SO long to send the notice home ??)
So now I can go with him. But I have some great ideas and plans for the next time. I would like to see him be able to shop for himself.
Plus Jayden gets to come too and we can pick out books that they will both enjoy.

 

You could still send the $ 5 and let him shop by himself and just see what he brings home!

 

I have volunteered at a LOT of my schools bookfairs, and they usually have adults helping the kids look for stuff. They'll try to steer them to the good stuff. The cashier (bless her heart) started telling them -- buy a book first, then, if you have any money left over, you can buy something else. But then they still might pick out a cheat code book, or a book that's WAY too easy for them. Trouble is, often the "good stuff" is more expensive than the kids bring. A book usually costs between $4-$9, and an eraser that smells like rootbeer costs $1.50. So, if left alone, the kids buy junk.
Don't send alot of money. Then they don't have enough for junk, after the book.
Write a note -- the teachers and the volunteers try to honor your request.
Enlist your kid's help. Go through the flyer they send home, and pick out the books you want to buy.
Our book fair lasts mult, days. If they kids don't have money, they "shop" and write down what books they'd like to get on "wish list" forms(And how much they cost). And then they can bring in $ the next day, go down at lunchtime or something, and get what they want. So, "FORGET" to send money the first day. Then check out the book titles before they buy.

 

At our school, during the day when the classes are sent down to "shop", all the other stuff is covered up i.e. the little pieces of junk, erases, bookmarks, etc. and what not that are not books. The librarian/cashiers/volunteers do a good job of steering you towards books. It's not until evening when the book fair is visited by parents that they uncover the stuff to allow you to purchase anything when accompanied by a parent.

 

We got forms home and with a note saying which three books the kids had chosen (they let them look at the fair first). I then sent money in for whichever books I approved. They also had shopping time at night for parents during conferences.

 

I have sent money listing a specific book, I have gone to family night, but my favorite is to go to lunch with them and shop once they are done eating. Does you school (and/or your schedule) allow that?

 

I'm going to ! But at least the pressure is off. I'm kind of looking forward to tonights family night.

 

Let us know how it goes, Michelle! I'm glad I read this! Great ideas!!!

 

I know I am late, but when we have book fairs they send the sheet home and I write down what they are getting. Our book fair is 50% off at the end of the year so I let the girls get the junk there. They are really good students so I do not mind the junk.

 

Late to the thread also but I wanted to add that I've volunteered at the last couple of Book Fairs. Lots of kids come to the Fair, fill out their Wish Lists and bring them home to their parents. Then parents can approve their selection and the kids come back the next day and purchase the books. It is a great idea.

We have two Book Fairs throughout the school year. The second one is supposed to be a BOGO. Unfortunately someone at Scholastic made a mistake and it was a regular Book Fair. I was so disappointed!

 

at ours as long as the student had money to buy a book the librarian(who always ran it) made sure the student bought a book 1st. she wouldn't allow the student to buy the junk until a book was purchased. I would make a call to talk to the teacher and just ask the best way to handle it. ours you can go in early and check it out. however i am sure you little guy wants to buy it with his friends in class. but perhaps you could go in with him before or after school and check out some books that you guys both agree on. that way he can pick from a few different ones when he and the class go.
thats how i handle it with my guys. they usually also have like book marks for .50 at ours. I do let me guys pick something out like that just so they can get a piece of junk. for some reason they just feel they need some of that crap.
I wish they wouldn't even have that stuff,after all it is a book fair. oh well thats a completely different post.
good luck and have fun looking at the books.